Center Court
- Vol. 6, No. 2 - Spring 2003
National Center Honors Court
Leaders
Three Distinguished
Service Awards have been presented by the National Center for State Courts
since January.
Appellate
Court Division: Chief Justice of Hawaii Ronald Moon. Some of
Moon’s achievements  include creating a Judicial Performance Program, one
of only 13 in the country, which reflects his belief that to improve the
public’s confidence in the courts judges must have a mechanism for
self-improvement. Chief Justice Moon established the Hawaii Committee on
Jury Innovations for the 21st
century, which explores ways to make the jury system more effective and
efficient. Since 1998, Chief Justice Moon has served as chair of the
Conference of Chief Justices’ Access to Fairness in the Courts
Committee, and as chair of the Americans with Disability Act Resource
Center Advisory Committee.
State
Trial Judge Division: Judge Judith Ford, retired from Superior
Court of Alameda County, California. Prior to her retirement in November
2002, Judge Ford made numerous contributions and advancement in the
courts, particularly in the area of technology. She chaired the California
Court Technology Advisory Committee, where she championed issues such as
developing standards for privacy and access to electronic court
information; advocating for the development of advanced decision support
and case management systems to help judicial officers and court staff
process cases; and overseeing the development of the Tactical Plan for
Court Technology to ensure effective management of technology resources in
the California court system. Judge Ford also served on the Conference of
State Court Administrators and the National Association of Court
Management’s Joint Technology Committee from 1999 to 2002.
State-Level
Court Administrator: Jim Thomas, former vice president of the
Court Consulting Service Division of the National Center for State Courts.
As vice president of Court Consulting Services from 1992 to
2001, Thomas led the National Center’s program of direct services to the
courts and he performed a key management role for the National Center. In
addition, Thomas was a leader in court research and education, serving as
past research director for the Commission on Judicial Processes in Georgia, and
as past assistant executive director of the Institute for Court
Management. Before joining the National Center, Thomas served as court
administrator for the Colorado court system for 15 years, and prior to
that he served as trial court administrator in Maryland and Colorado.
Distinguished Service
Awards are presented annually to those who have made long-standing
contributions to the improvement of the justice system and who have
supported the mission of the National Center. Six more awards will be
announced in 2003, including the Paul C. Reardon Award and the Warren E.
Burger Award. Notice of nominations for 2004 awards will be sent to state
courts in May. Recipient selection is approved by the National Center’s
Board of Directors.
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